


Slow to Bloom

by Goid



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Incest, Romance, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:07:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27921253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goid/pseuds/Goid
Summary: Claudia catches feeling for Soren. But does he feel the same way?Rated explicit for later chapters.
Relationships: Claudia/Soren (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

It all happened so fast. A quick glint of light shining off a blade. A flash of steel. Claudia was stunned, trying to comprehend what was happening. She had fallen onto her butt as Soren had pushed his way between her and the unseen assailant. Claudia was looking at the scene before her but not realizing what she was seeing, not comprehending it. 

Soren, with a furrowed brow and a gnarled frown, through gritted teeth spoke. His sword was drawn and aimed at the man’s chest. 

“Who are you? Who sent you?” Soren asked angrily. 

“It does not matter, there will be others. Your father’s life is worth a lot of coins.” The man replied. His accent was thick, and his burnt olive complexion gave away that he was from a foreign country. 

“My father?” Soren’s expression softened as he realized more of the situation. “Then why go after my sister?” 

“To use as a bargaining chip. What father wouldn’t sacrifice his own life so that his child may live?” The man replied with a crooked smile. 

It was at this time that help arrived, two guards quickly rushed over and grabbed the man by his arms, restraining him as they produced manacles and cuffed him. They then led him to the dungeon, no doubt intending to interrogate him. 

As the would-be assassin was taken away, Soren sheathed his sword and turned around. He held his hand out to his sister. 

“Are you okay?” Soren asked.

Claudia looked up at her brother, her senses coming back to her, she had almost just been kidnapped, she could have been killed, or worse. Her father could have been killed, and it would have been all her fault, for being so oblivious to her surroundings. But that didn’t happen. Soren saved her. 

“Claudia?” Soren asked, cocking his head, his bangs tilting to handsomely frame his face. 

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Claudia forced herself to reply, snapping out of her daze. She grabbed Soren's hand. It was coarse and rough from his days spent training his swordsmanship as well as the other manual labor he and the other guards had to perform day in and day out. 

Soren helped her to her feet, then suddenly, hugged her. Embracing her tightly. She could feel the cool metal of his armor through her clothing. She noticed, probably for the first time cognizantly, his aroma. His scent was earthy in a way, she would describe it as similar to the smell of a pine forest. Had he been wearing cologne? She wasn’t sure if he was, or when he started doing that. But, she liked it. Claudia embraced her brother back. Happy to be, safely, in his arms. 

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Soren whispered before pulling back and releasing Claudia. 

“Heh, yeah. No worries.” Claudia grinned. Something was different. She secretly wished he hadn’t pulled away, yet. It felt good to be so close to him. It was a nagging feeling in her chest, one she didn’t recognize, and one that she wouldn’t acknowledge for the time being. 

It wasn’t long after that that the rest of the night was a whirlwind. Claudia was taken to the healers and gone over. After being okayed by them it was to the guards to get her account of what happened. After a brief story, she was then whisked away to the presiding psychological expert who did a short exam on her, simply asking her a few questions. After a couple of hours of bustling activity inside the castle, she was finally allowed to go to bed. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later that night.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claudia laid in her bed, under the covers, with only her undergarments on. She couldn’t sleep. She just kept thinking about what happened tonight. Was it fear? Shock over what happened? Shock over almost being potentially murdered? Maybe. But that felt like an excuse. It felt like an excuse to ignore the real development of the night. 

As she tossed and turned in her bed, no matter where she tried to direct her thoughts they always swerved back to the incident. But not just the kidnapping attempt, but more specifically to Soren saving her. She wasn’t sure why, but her stomach tightened up when she thought about it. Or more precisely, when she imagined Soren, standing over her, offering her his hand to get up. 

“Uhg.” Claudia moaned. She stared up at her bedroom ceiling, illuminated by the moonlight peeking in her window. 

‘It’s just… nerves. Yeah, that’s it. I’ll just… talk to Soren tomorrow and everything will be back to normal.’ Claudia thought to herself. She closed her eyes again and eventually, with enough willpower, found herself deep asleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~The next day.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claudia got up and dressed. The feelings that seemed to blossom last night only seemed to fester as she thought about them. She left her room and walked towards the dining room. Maybe she was just hungry. She did skip dinner last night, after all. 

On her way through the halls, not paying any mind to her surroundings, she bumps into none other than her brother. 

“Oh, Sorry Claudia I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Soren said, still rubbing his eyes. 

“No, it's my fault. I was spaced out.” Claudia said.

They continued on their way to the dining room.

“So….” Claudia said. 

“Hmm?” Soren asked. 

“What are you doing today?” Claudia asked.

“Oh, you know, the usual. Gotta train and do some work around the garrison.” Soren shrugged.

“Oh, that sounds boring…” Claudia frowned.

“Yeah, kind of. But it's normal stuff that has got to be done.” Soren sighed.

“Could you… skip it?” Claudia asked, biting her lip.

“Hm? What for?” Soren asked.

“Well, I was planning on studying magic and trying out some new spells in the library today. And I’m gonna need a lot of books moved, I was thinking maybe you could help me?” Claudia asked.

“Oh, well, I don’t know... “ Soren rubbed the back of his neck. “I have stables duty today, I’d have to find someone to cover for me, and everyone hates that job.” 

“Come on, pleeeeeeeease?” Claudia drew out her words. “Can’t you just take a day off from all that stuffy boring work to help me out?” 

“I- Maybe. I do have someone that owes me a favor. But are you sure you need me to help just to carry some books around?” Soren cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Yeah, I will even make it fun for you, I promise.” Claudia smiled.

“Fun how?” Soren asked. 

“Hmm…. what if I teach you a basic spell?” Claudia offered.

“You know I'm no good at remembering all that stuff,” Soren said, a bit glum.

“Don’t worry, it's really easy, and just for fun anyway,” Claudia reassured him.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Soren said. 

They arrived in the dining room. They could hear muffled voices on the other side. Pushing open the door, they found the long chamber cluttered with Viren, as well as several of the castle’s councilors, crowded around him. 

“Dad?” Claudia called at first. The chattering of all the advisors stopped as the group collectively looked up at the two youths that had just entered the room. 

“Ah, Claudia. How are you doing? Slept well, I hope.” Viren said, standing up and taking a step out of the fussing, swarming advisors. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay.” Claudia rubbed a shoulder. 

“Good, good. Come, let’s get you something to eat.” He puts a hand on her shoulder and begins to lead her back through the room to the kitchen. 

“What is all this?” Soren piped up.

“Oh.” Viren looks back over his shoulder. “Just the advisors trying to come up with a plan as to how to protect me from any more would-be assassins. You needn’t worry.”

The advisors collectively left the room as the family of three sat down and had breakfast. 

~~~~~~~~Later, in the library.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A stack of books laid on the table that Claudia had been using as a desk. The room was well illuminated from the sunlight outside. Soren gazed out the window as Claudia prepared. He looked down on the courtyard outside where a couple of his guard friends were sparring. 

“Okay, I’m ready,” Claudia said, snapping Soren back to attention.

“Alright, what do you have planned?” Soren asked, walking over to the table.

“I’m gonna teach you a simple spell. It’s actually the first spell I ever learned. It’s a simple light spell.” Claudia began to explain. She picked up a firebug from a jar of them that sat next to her on the table. She muttered a simple two-syllable incantation, her eyes barely glowed, and with a twist of her wrist the bug withered and died. At the same time, a small ball of light now floated over her hand. She stood up and handed the ball of light over to Soren, who held his hand out to receive it.

“Weird…” Soren said, examining the light. “I can almost feel its weight.”

“Mmhm!” Claudia nodded. “Now sit here and let me teach you how to do it yourself.”

Soren passed her the ball of light back and took her seat at the desk. Claudia lifted her hand with the ball of light near the ceiling and placed it over a torch sconce where it then rested. She went back to standing next to her brother. She hunched over the table and pointed at a paragraph in an open book. 

“Okay, here is the incantation: Zeph-oth. You say that while you have a bug in your hand and you do one of these.” Claudia flicked her wrist again. “And that’s all there is to it… Well, except for the part of knowing what you are trying to accomplish and focusing on it...”

“Do I have to use live bugs?” Soren looked mildly disgusted.

“Yes, or else there is no magic to be had. You are gonna have to get used to touching creepy crawlies.” Claudia said with a smirk.

Soren reached into the jar and grabbed one, instantly crushing it.

“Eww.” Soren shook his hand, releasing the bug’s body. The blood of the bug had already stained his fingertips.

“Gently,” Claudia instructed. Soren reached in and grabbed another one, gentler this time, only gripping it hard enough so it couldn’t escape. He pulled it out of the jar and looked at Claudia.

“Now what, again?” Soren asked.

“Think about what you are trying to accomplish, imagine the energy from the bug being transferred into your body, and then expelled into a ball of light floating over your other hand!” Claudia said with a bit of excitement.

“Zep-oth” Soren said in a half-shout as if he was commanding the bug to die with words alone. At the same time, he twisted his wrist abruptly. Nothing happened.

“Zeph-oth.” Claudia corrected. ”And you are turning your wrist too fast, nice and slow, one smooth movement.”

“Zeph-oth.” Soren said aloud again. This time he smoothed out his wrist turn. However, the angle of his hand and fingers were off. The Bug did die, but no ball of light formed and the spell fizzled.

“Almost. It's your posture.” Claudia told him. “Here, let me help you.” She crouched down next to him, placing one hand on his shoulder and one on the back of his hand so her arm was laid down his arm, and their heads were mere inches apart. She held out her hand in the correct position, two fingers pointed left while the rest was balled in a fist. He moved his hand to mimic hers. 

Soren retrieved another bug from the jar. And once again recited the incantation, this time letting Claudia move first before he did. She slowly rotated her hand ninety degrees to the right and Soren followed. Again the bug withered but this time, a ball of light did form. Claudia stood up and clapped a bit.

“There you go, you did it!” She congratulated him. 

“Wow. I can’t believe I actually did it…” Soren said dumbfounded, looking at the ball of light in his hand. He then looked at Claudia and smiled. There was something… sad about his smile though.

“What’s wrong?” Claudia asked, tilting her head. 

“I thought I didn’t have any talent for this kind of stuff. I didn’t think I could do it at all… When I was young, Dad tried to teach me but I bounced off hard.” Soren was gazing at the ball of light as if looking into the past.

“I didn’t know he tried to teach you at all…” Claudia said. She took a step forward.

“I guess I just have a better teacher this time around,” Soren said with a little laugh. His eyes left the ball of light and met hers. He stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug. “Thank you.”


	2. Sword Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soren returns the favor

The day after Soren's lesson in magic, things were getting more back to normal around the castle. With the exception of Viren, who was becoming increasingly annoyed by all the councilors’ worry about assassins. While at the same time, their prattle must have been sinking in, because Viren seemed to be exhibiting some signs of paranoia. He would occasionally glance over his shoulder when walking in a hall alone at night as if looking for assailants. Something he had not previously ever done. 

Claudia, who had convinced herself that these weird feelings she had been experiencing were just nerves and anxiety from the attack was being forced closer and closer to the edge of realization that they were not, in fact, just her nerves. The study session in the library the other day was very pleasant, and she enjoyed it a lot. Guiding Soren in the ways of a spell was exhilarating. It felt good to be a teacher instead of a student for once. There was something else about the other day, but she was hesitant to admit it to herself.

The hug that Soren had given her, in thanks for teaching him. It felt… different than just a brotherly sibling-Esque hug. Different from what she had experienced a hundred times before. It felt warmer, it made her heart thump in her chest, and she could feel the heat in her cheeks swell as she blushed. At the moment, she played it off as the same old thing, but it wasn’t, not by a long shot. However, the whole encounter left her with one burning question: Did Soren feel it too?

Claudia found herself leaving the comfort of the library to wander out to the garrison of the castle, where she knew she could find her brother, along with his guard buddies. As she drew near she could hear hooting and hollering coming from the direction of the garrison. She rounded the corner on the castle grounds to the front of the garrison and was greeted by a rather large ring of people. She couldn’t see what they had all gathered around but could hear grunts and a sound that reminded her of hitting a stick against a wooden fence. 

Claudia pushed her way into the crowd, past the onlookers, most of whom were in uniform. Once at the front of the crowd, she saw what they had all been gathered around. A large makeshift ring had been made out of bales of hay and sandbags. In the middle of the ring, two lightly-armored combatants stood across from one another. The first one sprung forward, brandishing its sword and shield as it made a flurry of blows against his opponent. The defender was barely able to keep up with his own shield before being shield-bashed off his feet by the aggressor, landing in the crowd, outside the ring. At first, Claudia was concerned, but after closer examination of their weapons, she saw that they were nothing more than wooden training swords. 

The attacking combatant raised its arms in victory and slowly spun to look at the crowd, who cheered and hollered. Claudia saw a couple of the observers exchange coins, surely fulfilling wagers set before the match started. As the victorious combatant turned, she could finally make out who it was. Of course, it was Soren. Their eyes locked for a second, and a flash of concern etched over his face as his smile dropped. It lasted only a moment, but Claudia definitely saw it. After that brief moment, Soren broke their gaze and continued to soak in the praise from his friends. 

After a brief celebration, consisting of many of the fellow guards patting Soren on the back, giving him compliments and such. The roar of the area died down slightly and an older cadet stepped out into the empty ring, ready to announce the next fight, which started a whole new round of bets as the contenders were announced. Claudia waited through this, she wanted to congratulate Soren, as well as grill him over what she had just seen. 

Soren was able to finally break away from his friends and go see Claudia as the observers’ attention was drawn to the next fight. 

“Hey,” Soren said sheepishly as he took his helmet off. 

“Hey…” Claudia said, arching an eyebrow at him. ‘His hair is a mess from the training helmet, but he still looks kind of cute that way.’ Claudia thought to herself. ‘Wait, what?’ Claudia shook her head, dismissing the idea from her mind. 

“I wasn’t expecting to see you out here,” Soren said with an innocent grin.

“Yeah… I wasn’t really expecting to come out here either, I guess I just found my way.” Claudia said with an air of indifference. 

“Well…” Soren looked more serious for a second. “Is something wrong, do you need something?” 

“No, no. I guess I just wanted to see what you guys were up to.” Claudia said. 

“Heh, yeah well as you can see we are doing this… whole thing.” Soren gestures at the crowd and circle. “We only do this occasionally though, It’s not like we slack off ALL the time or anything.” Soren chuckles slightly, nervously.

“I’m sure Dad and your commander would love to hear all about it,” Claudia smirks.

“No, wait. Don’t tell them, they would totally ruin this for us.” Soren brings his hands together in front of his chest in a begging motion. 

“Hmm… I guess I don’t HAVE to tell them, but I might want something in return.” Claudia smiled devilishly and began to circle around Soren. 

“Okay… What do you want me to do?” Soren asked, his shoulders slumping. 

“Hmm… what to do, what to do…” Claudia brought a finger to her lip, thinking. As she said this, the fight began between the two new combatants, and the clashing of wooden swords got her attention. She gazed over at them for a second before announcing Soren’s task. 

“Teach me to do some of that.” Claudia smiled. Soren’s gaze followed Claudia’s, toward the fighting combatants.

“What? Sword fighting?” Soren asked, a little dumbfounded.

“Yeah, I figured I showed you some magic, now it’s your turn to teach me something.” Claudia nodded. 

“I don’t know, Claudia… Sword fighting takes years to master, and…” He looked over at his sister.

“What?” Claudia asked.

“Well, I would feel bad if you got hurt,” Soren said.

‘He’s sweet, but a little dumb.’ Claudia smiled at her inner monologue before responding. 

“Don’t worry, Soren. A couple of scrapes and bruises won’t kill me. Besides, if anything really bad happens we always have healing magic.” Claudia said confidently. 

“I guess so…” Soren rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Come on, no time like the present.” She began to walk away from the crowded area, leading Soren back to a secluded area of the castle grounds. Soren grabbed his helmet, sword, and grabbed another sword and shield for good measure before hurrying off after Claudia. 

The two came to a small clearing without any prying eyes. The tall castle walls surrounded them on every side, with the only door being the back entrance to the kitchen in the castle. Soren dumped the gear on the grass to one side of the clearing. 

“Okay, so, where do we begin?” Claudia grinned.

“I guess… with just normal sword stances and exercises. This is the stuff we do to warm up, you know like morning exercises to limber up for the day?” Soren explained, grabbing both swords and handing one over to Claudia. 

“So, there are a couple different forms and stances that we are going to go through, each is supposed to flex a different group of muscles and get them ready to be used in quick succession,” Soren explained, lowering his center of gravity, taking a slight forward stoop and bringing his sword to his side. 

Claudia aped his posture, but quickly found her movement restricted by her dress. 

“Hmm…” Claudia said, standing up and looking down at her legs. 

“What’s the matter?” Soren asked, also breaking stance.

“The dress.” Claudia stooped down and grabbed a hold of either side of the small slit running up one leg “Just gotta…” As she said this, she tore the dress more, revealing her calf and thigh. The tear ended just below her buttocks. 

Soren watched, and couldn’t help but to notice the new amount of flesh being exposed. He blushed a little as his eyes slid up her leg. He never noticed how shapely they were before. 

“Uh, you sure it's okay to rip a dress like that?” Soren asked, averting his gaze. 

“Don’t worry, I can fix it later,” Claudia said. Foreseeing another problem she pulled her hair back, and with a pin, stuck it up in a ponytail. 

“Are you ready?” Soren asked. Claudia just nodded.

“Alright, so like I was saying, you get in this kind of posture. Feet shoulder-width apart. Leaning forward a bit, but not too much, you want to be able to jump back if you need to, so don’t put all your weight on your front foot. Then you take your sword…” Soren brings up his sword to his side, before quickly thrusting it out into the open air. “And stab.” Soren pulls his sword back in. 

Claudia again tried to mimic Soren’s movements. Thrusting her sword out violently, with all her might. She nearly went off balance. 

“Don’t try to stab as hard as you can, in a real fight if you do that and miss, not only are you wasting energy but if you miss, like you just felt, you will be off-balance and be open to a counter-attack. Try again. Use only about fifty percent of your strength.” Soren instructed, he slowly moved the sword out into another thrust. 

Claudia tried to focus her strength and only released about half of it as she did another thrust, much smoother and sturdy this time, she was still on the flats of her feet. 

“Good, better. Next, we bring the sword down at an angle, sweep back up, and keep using the momentum of the sword to go into the next swing.” Soren shifts position, raising his sword above his head before bringing it down across his body, then smoothly and flawlessly bringing it back up on the other side of his body and bringing it down at the opposite angle again, finally returning to his starting position. 

Claudia tried the new form, swinging rather wildly and erratically, using too much energy instead of letting the sword do the work. 

“Hold on.” Soren stopped her. “It’s more like… It’s kind of…” Soren was at a loss for words for how to describe it. “Here.” 

Soren put his sword down and came up behind Claudia, sideling right up behind her, his larger frame eclipsing hers. He gently layered his hands on her wrist and put his free hand around her stomach to steady her. He then began to speak softly. 

“You just move it like this, smooth like butter, this way and then that, let the weight of the sword direct most of the movement.” He whispered into her ear as he showed her how to swing it. 

It was strange, but while Soren did this, he was getting distracted by the oddest of senses. Smell. With his head right behind Claudia’s, he could smell her hair, and it smelled wonderful. He wasn’t sure why he had never noticed before. Suppose he had never been close enough to notice. As he finished his little demonstration, he pulled back and heard a small gasp from Claudia. 

“Does that help?” Soren asked.

She turned her head to look at him, her face was bright red, and was breathing through her mouth now as if she had been holding her breath through the entire example. Claudia nodded her head violently while only muttering an ‘mmhm’. 

“Alright, great.” Soren took a step away, back to his original position, ready to get on with the lesson. 

“Oh, wait actually…” Claudia looked at the sun, which was right about overhead. “I… forgot something. I actually have to get back inside.” Claudia said, still slightly out of breath. 

“Oh…” Soren said, straightening up. “Well, alright if you say so.”

“Yeah, sorry. Maybe we can continue this tomorrow?” Claudia suggested.

“Sure, if you want. We were just getting into it.” Soren shrugged.

“Okay, great, see you later.” Claudia gave him the practice sword and hurried off, out of the courtyard, taking the kitchen’s back door to get back into the castle, much to the dismay of the cooks who were currently working there. Her face only turned back to its non-scarlet shade after she was out of sight of Soren. She worked her way upstairs, thinking about what just happened the whole way there. She found herself in her room, apparently having come here absentmindedly. She sat on her bed before sprawling out on top of the sheets. She looked at the ceiling of her room and just thought. About everything. 

‘That idiot. Doesn’t he have any idea what he’s doing?’ Claudia thought to herself. 

‘Or… am I the one who is wrong? I mean, what he did… It felt so intimate and personal. Or was he just trying to be a good teacher? I’m sure he didn’t even think twice about it, I’m just his sister, after all. Why is this so weird? What’s wrong with me?’


	3. Akiron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claudia and Soren get sent to a nearby settlement to deal with the locals. Relationship development ensues.

“I’m sending you two to Akiron,” Viren said.

“Huh?” Soren asked. 

“For what?” Claudia asked.

“A simple mission. I simply need an envoy or two to go in my stead to meet with the city council and enforce my will.” Viren explained, beginning to pace in front of the King’s throne. 

“And… what is that?” Claudia asked.

“They have requested supplies, funding, and manpower to create a defensible wall around their meager town. I have denied it by mail already, but they insist I come down to see for myself how bad it is needed. I begrudgingly accepted, knowing it was a waste of time, and then all ‘this’ came up.” Viren continued, waving his staff through the air. 

“So I am sending you two in my stead, simply go there, listen to their complaints and then regretfully inform them that the kingdom simply has no spare supplies or manpower to afford such an undertaking.” Viren grabs an envelope from his vest and pulls it out. There is a wax seal with the royal crest in it. “You’ll need that to verify you are indeed working as my vassals.” 

“So… why can’t we help them build a wall? Aren’t they kind of close to the edge of the forest? Aren’t they exposed to elf attacks? Claudia asked, looking at a nearby map that lay splayed open on the table. 

“Yes, however, their settlement is on a plateau. There is nothing but very hard slate stone in every direction. There are also no nearby wood supplies in the area that wouldn’t be encroaching on Elf land. To build a wall there, we would need to import all the supplies, and then spend weeks digging through the sheer rock to set it up.” Viren explained with a sigh. 

“Hmm…” Soren hummed to himself, thinking of alternative solutions. 

“Alright, when are we leaving?” Claudia asked, taking the envelope and putting it away in one of the pouches at her waist. 

“Immediately. Go, give them the bad news, and return.” Viren instructed. “You should be back here before nightfall tomorrow. Just head out to the stables and fetch your horses, pack whatever supplies you deem necessary and get this errand done.”

Claudia and Soren nodded before leaving the throne room. They headed down out of the castle, grabbing a bit of food on the way to throw in their saddlebags. Claudia stopped by the laboratory to grab some magical supplies, and Soren stopped to grab his extra set of clothes and two tents. They met back up at the stables and saddled their horses, affixing to them all their equipment. 

Once outfitted, Claudia and Soren led the horses out of the stables, mounted them, and began to walk to the western gate of the city. On the way there, they passed several of the locals who wished them safe travels and even gave them a free sweet bun or two for the road. 

They left town and headed down the long road towards Akiron. It was still morning when they left, but it would be dusk by the time they got to the little village. The siblings made small talk amongst themselves as much as they could to keep boredom away. They spoke about another magic lesson or another sword training session. But eventually, the conversation dried up and they were left only with the sound of thudding hoofsteps.

After hours on the road, they could see Akrion on the horizon. A smaller village on a rocky plateau. The poor horses were going to have to walk uphill for about half a mile after already walking for hours on end. But they were strong, stocky stallions and they were able to power through with a bit of encouragement from their riders. Upon reaching Akron's front “gate”, which was little more than a signpost hanging over the road, they dismounted and walked the horses to a nearby stable inside the city limits. 

They wandered the empty streets, looking around the small town, finding mostly empty, dark houses. They did see a small tavern in the middle of the town that seemed to be active. They ignored it at first and walked past it, knowing they needed to locate the building the served as the town hall. They found it, after a bit of searching, however, the doors were shut tight and no lights came from inside. 

“Looks like we got here too late,” Soren said with a sigh. 

“Guess we will have to wait until tomorrow?” Claudia said. 

“Yeah, why don’t we just stay the night at that tavern back there, they probably have rooms. I can’t imagine there are many travelers in town.” Soren said. 

“Probably not. Let’s go, maybe get some dinner while we are at it.” Claudia smiled. 

The two backtracked to the tavern. A loose wooden sign hung over the door. 

“The roiling Cauldron” Claudia read aloud. 

“Looks homey, let’s go in and see,” Soren said. 

The two walked into a dimly lit taproom with several tables and a bar at the far wall. Stairs were going up to a second level on the right-hand side of the building. There were some patrons here, mostly plastered from their drinks. But a sober bartender stood behind the bar, polishing a glass. 

Instinctively, Soren reached back and grabbed Claudia by the hand, leading her through the seedy establishment. As they walked to the bar, past a table with a few men sitting at it, a voice cut through the low rumble of the taproom. 

“How's bout another round?” A drunkard nearly laying on the table slurred as he slapped Claudia’s ass as they passed.

Claudia jumped at this, directly into Soren, he caught her, catching her and embracing her as they both turned around to look at the man. He was three drinks past his limit and barely cognizant. He waved his hand around in the air.

“Make it a double.” The drunk said. 

Soren’s eyebrow furrowed, taking a second to realize what exactly just happened. Still holding Claudia close to him with an arm around her hip. Soren stepped forward and grabbed the man’s hand, specifically a single finger, and began to bend it backward. 

“I’d suggest you watch where you put your hands, lest you lose them,” Soren said, gripping the man’s index finger fiercely as he cranked it backward.

“Ah, ah, ow. Okay, okay.” The drunk may have pain inhibition, but he felt that and would continue feeling it in the morning. 

“I didn’t know she was your girl, relax!” The drunk cried in pain.

Soren released the man. ‘His girl?’

Soren was then aware of how close Claudia was to him, how she was holding onto him, and he was holding her. It was almost intimate. 

A bit perplexed, Soren dropped the subject and turned away from the man, now cradling his hand. Still holding tight to Claudia he led her through the rest of the tavern, up to the bar.

“If you’re gonna start a fight, take it outside.” The bartender said to Soren as he approached.

“I- I didn’t start anything,” Soren said. 

“Hmm.” The bartender hummed, looking disinterested.

“Well, look. We just got into town, do you have any spare rooms?” Soren asked. 

“Got one, the other one is occupied.” The bartender said.

Soren looked over at Claudia, who shrugged.

“Fine, we will take the room.” 

“That’ll be three gold.” The bartender said, turning around to grab a brass key off a hook behind him.

Soren dug out a pouch and put three coins on the table, scooping up the key as the bartender put it down. 

“Do you have anything to eat?” Claudia piped up for the first time. 

“Yeah, a bit of stew.” The bartender nodded.

“Great, can we get two bowls?” Claudia asked.

The bartender nodded again, turning around to dish out a couple of bowls of stew. Soren realized he was still holding onto his sister, and promptly let her go, a bit embarrassed. The two sat at adjacent stools and ate their dinner. It was a stew made out of roots mostly, not much meat if any the Soren could tell. It was a bit of a lousy dinner, but it sufficed. 

Claudia and Soren finished their meal, Claudia thanked the bartender before they went up to their shared room and opened the door. What they saw inside, made Soren's stomach sink. There was only one bed. 

“Uhhg.” Soren groaned. “Now we need to go back to the horses and get one of the sleeping bags.” 

“Hmm…” Claudia put a finger to her chin, examining the small room. There were very sparse furnishings, a bed with furs laid over it, and a dresser in the corner of the room. Only the moonlight from outside streamed into the single window in the room. 

Soren sighed heavily. “Okay, fine. I’ll go get a sleeping bag, you can take the bed. I’ll be back in like fifteen minutes.” 

“Wait. Don’t. You take the bed.” Claudia said with a smile.

“Well, we still need to go get a sleeping bag from the horses,” Soren said, pointing over her shoulder.

“Nah.” Claudia said, I’ll make do.” Claudia corrected him.

“You… are just going to sleep on the floor?” Soren asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Not exactly.” Claudia smiled. “Go ahead, get out of all that armor, and get ready for bed.” Claudia waved her hand at him dismissively. 

“Okay…” Soren said, beginning the minutes-long process of doffing his armor. He laid his scabbard next to the bed. He noticed she wasn’t doing much, not casting a spell, or making her bed, or undressing to go to bed… ‘what is she planning?’ Soren thought to himself. 

Once he was down into his common clothes, he examined the bed. It had a few pelts of animals thrown over it to act as covers. He cocked an eyebrow at Claudia who was still just standing around. Normally, Soren slept in fewer clothes than this, but he felt it would be inappropriate to bear any fewer clothes in the same room as his sister.

Soren Climbed into bed, and propped his head upon the pillow, glancing at Claudia. Finally, she did something. She began to undress, which was a much less lengthy process for her. A single zipper unzipped and her entire dress fell to the floor. Leaving her only in her undergarments.

“Claudia!” Soren scolded.

“I didn’t bring anything else to sleep in,” Claudia said. 

Soren huffed and averted his gaze from the pale flesh of his sister, instead of looking at the ceiling, a crimson blush spreading across his cheeks. That is until he felt a weight on the bed. Soren looks down again to see Claudia sitting on the bed. 

“Okay, scooch over,” Claudia said. 

“What?” Soren asked.

“You are taking up all the bed, move over,” Claudia said, grabbing a flap of the top fur and peeling it back. 

“So we did need the sleeping bag after all. If I had known you were going to pull this, I would have just gotten it.” Soren complained, not wanting to let her into bed.

“Hush, this is fine,” Claudia said, slipping under the fur blankets.

Soren begrudgingly scooted over, towards the wall of the room, relinquishing half the bed to Claudia. Claudia looked over her shoulder, looking back at Soren before saying. 

“Thanks,” 

“For what?” Soren asked.

“In the bar,” Claudia said.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. The guy had it coming,” Soren said. There was a silence for a moment between the two.

“Do you sleep like that?” Claudia asked.

“Do you sleep like that?” Soren asked.

“Like what?” Soren asked.

“In all those clothes, aren’t they hot?” Claudia asked.

Now that she mentioned it, Soren was feeling a bit warm and scratchy in these clothes while laying in bed. 

“Not… normally,” Soren admitted.

“So then take them off,” Claudia said with a smirk. 

There is a small silence from Soren, and then he sighed and began to take off his shirt. Claudia slightly bit her bottom lip in anticipation as she eyed Soren. The covers covered most of his upper body, but Claudia could still see the tops of her pecs and his muscular shoulders. It was enough. Claudia smirked as Soren threw the shirt out of the bed, across the room, and onto the floor. 

“Better?” Claudia asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” Soren said. 

“Good.” Claudia turned her head back, away from him, and closed her eyes. She was trying to ignore the fact that she wanted nothing more than the scoot back another couple inches, right into Soren, pressing their bodies together. She knew that would be going a bit far. She had already been pushing it tonight. 

Claudia was pleasantly surprised, however, when she felt Soren’s armrest over her waist. On top of the covers, but still. It was nice, she felt protected. She laid a hand over his and tried to nestle into the bed and find sleep.

Soren fell asleep first. His rhythmic breathing behind her tipping her off she was the only one still conscious in the room. Claudia looked back, she could barely make out the outline of her brother’s face in the darkness of their shared room. Claudia very gently turned over in bed, making sure not to wake Soren. Laying on her back, she tried to study Soren’s face, as well as the outline of her shoulders and chest. In the dark moonlight, she could make out the outline of the ridge of his nose, his eyebrows, and his lips. He was quite handsome by all standards. She just so badly wanted to…

Claudia glanced around their private room instinctively before leaning forward in the bed, getting within inches of Soren’s face. She pursed her lips and closed her eyes before pecking Soren on the lips. It was a brief and fleeting touch, but it made Claudia’s heart race. Soren’s breathing stopped for a moment. Had she woken him up? There was dead silence in the room for a moment as Claudia held her breath. 

A moment later Soren’s breathing picked back up, slow and steady. Claudia let out her held breath and laid her head back down on the pillow. After waiting for her heartbeat to come back down to normal, she closed her eyes again, and finally, found sleep.


End file.
